La Vie En Rose
by Faded Galaxia
Summary: One-shot. Willy takes Molly on a surprise road trip to a place that's very special to him. Probably good to read Nights In White Satin. Your teeth will rot from the fluff.


**A/N: This has been sitting on my hard drive since like 2012. I'd totally forgotten about it until I was poking around in my stories folders for any sort of inspiration and found it. I had to finish it up, and I tweaked a few things, but it's pretty much the same as what it was before. Kind of impressed by that. Also slightly concerned that my writing hasn't changed in 6 years…but oh well.**

 **I've missed these two…this could be the spark of some inspiration.**

… **COULD. I'm not guaranteeing anything. Rewriting my Digimon story is kind of taking up a lot of time. (yuuuuup)**

 **I'd read Nights In White Satin before this one. It will make more sense. Also The Sweetest Thing, if you want to know about their sexytimes.**

 **Ok well hope you all enjoy this! Haha**

* * *

"Willy, seriously, where are we going?" Molly asked, trying to pull the blindfold off of her eyes. They had been in the car for about 25 minutes, and Molly was starting to get antsy.

"Ah, ah, ah!" He said, reaching over and swatting her hands away. "No taking that off. I want it to be a surprise."

"Meanie."

"You'll love it."

"You swear?"

"I swear."

"Okay." She slumped back in the passenger seat. The only sounds in the car were the revving of the engine and Willy's worn-out and fuzzy-sounding mix tape he had made when he was 17. Currently, the tape was in the middle of "Kashmir" by Led Zeppelin.

"You know, I still have a hard time picturing you as a Zeppelin fan."

"Dude. Totally. It's my childhood."

"Bullshit. You were, what, three when this song came out?"

"Maybe so, but I've still listened to it for more years than you have."

Molly stuck her tongue out at him. She was almost positive that he stuck his back out at her. She giggled, pushing him lightly on the shoulder.

"Hey, now, let's not start something. I'm driving. I have to concentrate – WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Willy hit his hands on the steering wheel. Molly giggled even more. She thought it was hilarious when Willy's road rage kicked in. "He almost ran me off the road!"

She rubbed his shoulder. "It's okay, honey. Karma will get him."

"It better. I hate it when people do that."

"I think everyone does."

Molly felt the car turn to the right. The sound of the road changed.

"Are we going over gravel?"

"Mmmhmmm."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

"Kashmir" faded into silence. The tape stopped. Molly waited for Willy to eject it and flip it over, but he didn't. She sat still for a few seconds, and then shrugged and started reaching for the button. Willy smacked her hand.

"Nope! We're almost there. It would be pointless to start the other side now."

"Uhh…okay." The car slowed down until it stopped completely. Molly heard Willy take off his seatbelt, open his car door, get out, and shut the door. She could hear the sound of the gravel crunching beneath his boots as he walked over to her side. She unbuckled her seatbelt and waited for him to open the door.

He didn't.

"Are you just standing there?" She said rather loudly. No answer. Molly sighed, and then opened the door herself. She got out, shut the door, and leaned up against the car, crossing her arms.

"Can I take the blindfold off yet?"

"Come here."

"Willy."

"Yeah?"

"I can't see you."

"Oh. Right. Heh." He grabbed her hands and led her forward a few steps. He positioned her in front of him, draping his arms around her shoulders. She leaned back against him. "Now you can take the blindfold off."

"Finally." She reached up and untied it in the back. She opened her eyes, and then couldn't bring herself to blink.

They were on a hill. A very, very high hill. The city of London spread out beneath them, seemingly stretching out into the horizon. The sight took her breath away.

"Willy…this is…this is beautiful…"

He kissed her cheek. "I thought you might like it."

"I do. I really do." She turned around, cupped his face in her hands, and kissed him lightly. "I have to ask, though…why did you bring me here?"

He cocked his head. "Change of scenery. The factory got boring. Plus, I haven't been here for a long time." He grabbed her hands off of his face and started leading her down the hill. She hesitated slightly, but started edging her way down the hill. It was rather steep, and she was afraid she was going to trip and face plant in the grass.

"Don't worry," he said, smiling, "I won't let you fall. Besides, this is where I wanted to sit." He plopped down on the grass, practically dragging her down with him. She let out a squeak as she hit the ground. "Oh, sorry, dear!" His hand was immediately on her cheek. "I didn't mean to pull you down like that!"

Molly scooted over close to Willy and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's all right. I'm fine."

"I'm sure your butt hurts, though."

She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled her nose into his neck, causing him to squeal. She planted a kiss on his neck before returning her head to his shoulder. "It does, but I don't care. I'm young. It won't do anything to me."

He sighed, slumping his shoulders slightly. "You know, Willy, you should really get over this age thing."

"I'm over it, I'm over it. I'm sorry I keep going back to it. I'll stop, I promise."

"Kay." She looked up at the sky. No stars. "It's too bad we can't stargaze."

"City lights do make that difficult." He said with a bit of a pompous tone. She pushed him lightly. He exaggerated the motion and fell over on his side, his arms outstretched. "Hey! I did not deserve that."

She grabbed his wrist with both hands and pulled him back up. "Come back here."

"Gladly." He sat upright, gave her a sly glance, and then lunged at her. Molly burst into a fit of giggles as they play-wrestled. He was giggling like a little schoolgirl himself, which made her giggle even more. Eventually, they had flipped to the point where Molly was hovering over Willy, their lips centimeters away from the others. They were both breathing heavily. Willy flashed a goofy smile as he gently put his hand on the back of her neck and pushed her to his lips.

The kiss was sweet, gentle, and short. They pulled apart and smiled at each other. Molly saw a mix of emotions in Willy's eyes – love, happiness, and…was that…anxiousness? She cocked her head, causing her hair to brush the side of his face.

"Willy, are you okay?"

His smile grew bigger, but the strange look did not leave his eyes. "Of course, my dear. Why wouldn't I be?"

Molly stared at him a bit longer, and then shook her head. "No reason." She rolled onto her back, placing a hand on her stomach. Closing her eyes, she breathed in the fresh air. Though it was nice to constantly smell chocolate and candy in the factory, it was nice to smell the grass and earth underneath her. The last time she was able to do that was when she was very young, at her Uncle Jack and Aunt Sarah's house. A sudden wave of sadness came over her. Willy could either feel it or had been looking at her when this happened, because, almost instantly after it happened, his hand was on her cheek.

"Are _you_ okay?"

Molly opened her eyes and turned her head in his direction. A new expression on top of the others – worry. She half-smiled. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just thought of the last time I smelled grass like this."

"When was that?"

She closed her eyes again. "It was before Jack and Sarah died, so I was around seven or eight. Miranda and I liked to lay in the grass in their huge yard and look up at the clouds. We'd point at the ones that looked like different shapes, say what we thought they were, and then giggle at the ridiculousness of our ideas." She sighed. "I once saw a cloud that looked like Miss Piggy sitting on a chair with a puppy jumping up in her lap."

Silence. Molly opened her eyes. Willy had an eyebrow raised, and his goofy grin had returned. She waved her hand. "You can laugh if you want. It is pretty hilarious."

He shook his head. "No, I'm not going to laugh. I'm rather impressed. That's quite an imagination you have there, my dear."

"Yours is better."

He did a mock hair flip. "Well, I am the candy making genius of the world."

She rolled her eyes and laughed a little. "You're so full of yourself."

Willy leaned over and kissed Molly on the cheek, and then sat up on his elbows. "You know it." He looked up at the sky. "This isn't making you sad, is it?"

"What?"

"The whole grass thing. Is it making you sad?"

Molly shook her head. "No, it's not. If I were alone, it probably would…but I've got you, and just being around you makes me happy."

He didn't take his eyes off of the sky. "Thank you. That means a lot."

Molly sat up next to him and placed her hand on his. "Are you sure _you're_ okay?"

"My mom and I used to come here. She said her mother used to take her here. Sort of a family tradition, I suppose." He sighed, closing his eyes. Molly stroked his hand with her thumb. This was the first time she had ever heard him talk about his mother. "After she died, I vowed to myself that I would never come back here. It would just be too hard. But, after I shut down the factory the first time, I broke that vow and came back here. Just sitting on this grass made me break down. I sat down and cried. I repeated that action for a good three weeks." He looked at his feet, and then at her. "This place is…well…it's almost sacred to me. I have never brought anyone here before." He took her hand in his. "I wanted to show you how important you are to me."

Molly could feel her heart breaking. Tears welled up in her eyes. She squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Willy."

He half smiled, and then looked back at the sky. "Unfortunately, I also had an ulterior motive to bringing you here. I wanted us to be alone. Completely alone."

She raised her eyebrows. She never could raise just one. "Oh, really?"

His smile grew into a full one. "Not for that." He squeezed her hand. "That could always happen later, if you would like."

"Horndog."

He stuck out his tongue at her. She followed suit. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, there are a few…umm…things I need to let you know about."

Molly's heart started racing. 'Okay, calm down,' she thought. 'This can't be anything big…can it? Like…did he lie about Melody's baby? Nah. He wouldn't do that…would he?'

"Molly…I can't give you a family."

Molly stared at him, confused. "Uh…what?"

"You know…kids and stuff. I can't give you that."

"I know that already."

Now it was his turn to look confused. "…You do?"

She nodded. "Well, yeah. You picked Charlie to be your heir before I came into the picture. It would be pointless to even have kids now, since they wouldn't be able to take over the family business per se."

He shook his head, sitting up and putting it into his hands. "That's not what I mean…"

She crawled closer to him and put her arms around his shoulders. "What do you mean, then? I'm confused."

"I mean, I _can't_ have kids."

Realization struck her almost instantly. Her mouth formed an 'oh' before the word even came out. "Oh."

"Yeah…one thing I left out about the whole Melody situation. She made Joe and me both take paternity tests because she wanted to prove to me that the baby was mine. Of course, it turned out to be Joe's. But, in the process, I was informed that I could not have children.

"I wanted to tell you, but I didn't want that to push you away or anything. I love you so much, and I couldn't risk losing you again. I knew I had to come clean though when I saw you with Sherri."

Molly thought back to that visit. Miranda and Jeff had come by the factory a few weeks before to meet Charlie, his family, and to officially meet Willy. They had brought Sherri along, who, being the 5 year old that she was, loved the kaleidoscope room more than anything in the world. She ran around everywhere, chasing Oompa Loompas and eating handful after handful of swudge. Eventually, she wore herself out and collapsed onto the mint grass. Molly had laughed and picked her up, taking her into the Buckets' house. Sherri played with her hair and her beret while Molly whispered cutesy things in her ear and attacked her cheeks with kisses. She could easily see why Willy would think that she would care about the whole kids thing.

He couldn't be more wrong.

"Willy…I hate kids."

He slowly raised his head from his hands and stared at her. "Umm…what?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. I hate kids. Kids suck."

"But…Sherri…"

Molly shook her head, laughing. "She's my niece. I watched her come out of my sister's vagina. (At this comment, Willy shook his head and laughed.) I automatically have to love her." She shrugged between laughs. "She's the only child I've ever liked."

"So…then…you're okay with it?"

She nodded. "I'm completely fine with it. Miranda has the task of carrying on the Relson genes." She paused. "And Marie, I guess…but I take pity on anyone who has to deal with that mess."

Willy nodded in agreement. "I do as well. She doesn't sound like a very appealing person."

"She's not."

"Hmm…" He sat in thought. "There was something else I wanted to talk to you about…oh!" He snapped his finger. "I know what it was." He ran a hand through his hair. "Well, Molly, since you've been living at the factory for close to three years, you've probably noticed that I keep…well…strange hours."

So true. They had taken to sleeping in his bed, since it was quite a bit bigger than the one in Molly's room. Some days, he would sleep until eleven, if not later. Other days, he would wake up at 5:30 in the morning and dash out the door. There had even been nights where he didn't come to bed at all – he was taking small catnaps in either the cot he had in the Invention Room or the one he had in his office. Once, Molly had been walking through the kaleidoscope room to get to Charlie's when she practically tripped over the sleeping body of Willy Wonka.

"Yes, I have noticed that."

"And, though I wish I could spend every night with you – really, I wish I could spend every waking moment with you, but I know that's impossible – I don't really have the opportunity to do so."

Molly nodded. "I know."

"So, I guess what I'm trying to say is…umm…. I don't want you to feel like I don't care about you or anything, because I do. But, with everything that goes on around the factory, and all of the phone calls I get to make, the papers I have to sign, the whole process of learning whatever language I'm working on at the time, and the rare event that I actually get to _invent_ something, my time just seems to run away from me." He made a motion of legs running through the air with his fingers.

"How many languages do you speak, anyway? I've only ever heard you speak French, and, even then, it wasn't very much."

"Well, let's see…" He stuck his hand out in front of him, putting each finger down as he said a language. "Fluently, French and Spanish…I'm better at French, though. Conversationally, I can muddle my way through Portuguese, German, and Japanese. Currently, I'm using the trusty Rosetta Stone to learn Mandarin, since that's becoming the business language of the world. It's taking longer than Portuguese and German took to learn…and I'm only focusing on the speaking part right now. I have to tackle the written aspect of it at some point…it's just daunting."

"I'm sure."

He took her arms from around his shoulders and lay back down on the grass, closing his eyes. His breath was coming in more shallow than usual. Molly lay on her side next to him and gingerly touched his chest. His heart was racing, and he was trembling slightly. Just as she thought.

"Wilbur Alan, you tell me right now what is wrong. Right now."

He smiled. "Molly, I promise you, nothing is wrong."

"Then why are you starting to freak out?"

He turned his head and looked at her. "I'm not freaking out." His body and his eyes – especially his eyes - betrayed him.

"Willy. I can read you like a book." She brushed his cheek with the back of her hand. "Just tell me what's wrong."

He was silent, but she could tell he was trying to collect his thoughts and turn them into words. He sat up and crossed his legs Indian style. He rested his elbows on his knees and rubbed his eyes. He sniffed and wiped his hands on his slacks. Miniscule blots of wetness appeared on them. Molly watched his eyes scan the city below them. She had been through enough of his random flashbacks to know how he acted when he was having them, but this...this was different. He wasn't having a flashback.

No.

He was genuinely thinking about something.

"Willy..." Molly whispered. Her eyebrows came together, and tears pricked at her eyes. "Honey, are you crying?"

Willy's gaze shifted to the ground. He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, exhaled, and met her eyes. "I'm a little teary-eyed, but I'm not crying." He laughed a little. "Out of the ordinary for me, right?"

She half-smiled. "Normally you're like a faucet on full blast."

He nudged her on the shoulder. "Hey, you're no better."

"Never said I was."

He breathed deeply again. In, hold, out. "I love you, Molly."

Molly laid her head on his shoulder. "I love you, too. You know that."

"No," he gently took her head in his hands and made her look at him. "I mean it, Molly. I love you."

She stared at him. 'What the hell?' She thought, trying to get some information from those expressive eyes of his. The anxiousness she noticed before had intensified. His pupils were huge, almost taking over the beautiful violet shade of his irises. His hands were trembling even more now.

"Willy..." she started, hesitant, "what's going on?"

His lips turned up into a small smile. Even after three years, the fact that the right side of his mouth went up more than the left when he smiled made her smile. It was almost like a reflex now – he would smile, and then she would smile, or vice versa.

"You know how I said I wanted you completely alone?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah..." She paused for an answer. Nothing came. Just him staring at her. "Okay...why did you want me 'completely alone'?"

"Well..." he took his hands from her face and put them in his lap. "I wanted to talk to you, to clear all of those things up. I wanted to make sure..." Molly could finally tell what he was feeling then. Nervousness. Extreme nervousness. She hadn't seen him this nervous since they had met up in the coffee shop the night they got back together.

This was one of those moments where she wished she could just jump into his head and figure out what he was thinking.

Come to think of it, that single wish had crossed her mind quite a bit recently.

Willy had been a little...off lately. It was as if something big was on his mind. Charlie kept complaining to her when she would come back from class about how he just wasn't able to concentrate on anything. He kept saying that Willy was just 'living his dream of being an astronaut, floating around in space'.

She chuckled in her head. Oh, Charlie.

He cleared his throat, bringing her back to reality. "I...uh...I wanted to make sure that everything was okay."

"Of course everything's okay. Why wouldn't it be?"

He shook his head slightly. "No, not like that." He sighed. "Okay, Willy, breathe." He started hitting his pockets like he was looking for something. He stopped when he found whatever it was in his left pocket. He put his hand in it, but didn't pull the mystery thing out.

Molly raised her eyebrows. What in the world...

He was acting strange.

Even for Willy Wonka.

And that was saying something.

"Willy...?"

He looked over at her. His expression was one she hadn't seen from him, or really anyone, before. Love, pain, happiness, sadness, nerves, fear...but the strongest of them all was love. Her breathing quickened involuntarily as he spoke.

"My mom died when I was 11," he started, his voice low, velvety, tinged with sadness, and shaking slightly. "She had breast cancer. I didn't really understand what was going on. The treatment made her lose her gorgeous hair." He touched the tips of his. "It made me sad. I cried quite a bit, but always in my room, because I didn't want either of them to see me cry.

"She stayed at the house as long as she could, but, eventually, she had to go to hospital. It was rough to see her hooked up to all of that stuff. Really rough." He swallowed, cleared his throat, and then continued. "Anyway, one night Dad and I were there, she sent Dad off to go get him and me some food. He didn't want to leave, but she used her 'sweet voice', as we called it." His eyes glittered at the memory. "She told me to get up on the bed and cuddle with her. So, I did, being careful not to get any tubes or anything." He shook his head. "She was so frail at the time...so fragile...I felt like even breathing on her wrong would snap her in half."

Molly began to tear up. She couldn't believe that Willy trusted her this much, to tell her about some of his last moments with his mom. She could tell he was getting emotional from talking about it, so she put her hand over his hand and squeezed it.

He wiped a tear from his eye with the hand that was in his pocket. "We talked for a little bit, just her and me...basically like how we would talk when we were here. After a while, though, she told me to reach out my hand," he reached back into his pocket and got whatever it was, "and she gave me this."

Molly looked down to see what he was holding.

She didn't think it was possible for a human to keep living when everything in their body stopped working.

Well, she definitely proved herself wrong. It was completely possible.

She opened her mouth to speak, but she had no words. All that came out was a small squeak.

Willy was holding a ring. A beautiful ring. The main part had a gold band and a fairly large diamond on it that was cut into the shape of a heart. Two smaller diamonds rested on either side of it. The band underneath it was gold as well, and tiny diamonds decorated the length of it.

She knew exactly what it was. It was his mom's wedding ring. Mrs. Wonka had given her wedding ring to her young son when she was close to death.

And now...it seemed...he wanted to give it to her.

"She told me to look at her and to listen carefully. I did just that." He paused. "She had beautiful eyes. People always told me that I had her eyes, but hers were a deeper, more vivid color than mine. I somehow got a mix of her violet eyes and my dad's blue-gray eyes." He paused again, this time looking down at the ring. "Mom closed my hand around this ring and said, 'Willy, dear, I want you to hold on to this. I want you to keep this with you until you find a very special girl. And then', she smirked a little then, 'I want you to put it on her finger.'"

The tears that had been threatening to fall out of Molly's eyes streamed down in full force. Her hands flew instinctively to her mouth. It was only then that she realized that they were shaking.

"Oh my God, Willy..." she said breathlessly.

He sniffed a bit and cleared his throat. "I've waited a long time to give this to someone. I didn't even give this to Melody." Molly's jaw involuntarily dropped behind her hands. "Molly, we've been together for almost three years now, and I've never felt happier or more loved. I want you to know that you are the most precious thing in the entire world to me. I…" He cleared his throat again and blinked a few times to get his eyes to stop tearing up. "I want you to know that I need you in my life." He paused. "For the rest of my life."

Molly's eyes just about fell out of her head as she watched him move around until he was down on one knee in front of her. "So," he started, barely above a whisper. "Molly Christine, would you do me the honor of making me the luckiest man in the world and marry me?" His voice broke a bit when he said 'marry,' as if that word carried the weight of the world. She knew it did for him. He'd been hurt so much before that his heart had become incredibly guarded. The vulnerability he was displaying in front of her was beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. This beautiful, hilarious, eccentric genius of a man was baring his heart and soul to her. It was all she could do to keep her composure and not faint right then and there. She opened her mouth behind her hands, but discovered she couldn't speak quite yet. So, she frantically nodded 'yes' instead.

Willy's face exploded in joy and a kind of boyish wonder. "Yes?"

Molly sniffled a few times, but finally managed to squeak out a broken 'yes.'

"Oh, Molly," he exclaimed, scooting toward her and taking her hands in his. He slipped the ring on her finger, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. The kiss was probably just a few seconds long, but to Molly it felt like a million years. A million years of pure bliss.

They broke the kiss, both sobbing. 'Typical us,' Molly thought as she gazed down at the beautiful ring now on her finger. 'It's almost like we cry every damn day.'

"Oh," Willy started, moving the ring around on her finger. It was a little loose. "We'll have to get it resized, I suppose. That shouldn't be too difficult, though."

"Do we have to send it somewhere for that, then?"

He shook his head with a smile. "Oh no, definitely not! There are a few blacksmiths among the Oompa-Loompas. One of them would be able to do it in a jiffy." He touched his forehead to hers. "Besides," he smirked, "they all absolutely adore you. They'd grab you the moon if you wanted it."

'Right side.'

Molly rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure. Let me get on that." She held her left hand up and moved it around so the diamonds would reflect the moonlight. "It's absolutely beautiful."

She squealed as he wrapped his arms around her middle, moving around so that he was sitting on the ground and she was in his lap. "It is. Made even more beautiful by the fact that you're wearing it."

"You're so mushy," she said as she leaned back into him. He kissed her on the cheek and rested his head in the crook of her neck.

"I feel like the time calls for it."

She nodded in agreement. "Absolutely."

He held her as close as he could to her. She entwined her fingers in his. He started singing softly to her, a beautiful song in French. She closed her eyes and smiled, allowing herself to be enveloped in his warmth and love, and to imagine how beautiful her future was going to be.

" _Quand elle me prend dans ses bras, elle me parle tout bas, je vois la vie en rose…"_

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 **A/N: FML I'M SERIOUSLY UGLY CRYING RIGHT NOW –wheeze-**

 **So I've tossed around doing a sequel to Nights In White Satin for a while now (with a while being like, ya know, almost 8 years LOL), but it may happen…I'm not saying for sure, but keep an eye out.**

 **Reviews are always welcomed. You are all beautiful!**


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